Breaking Dawn
by Aurora-Windigo
Summary: Wondering what will become of Edward and Bella? What about the wedding? Will Edward change her? Can't wait for the fourth book to find out? Well neither could we. This is our take on what happens next. Enjoy! :
1. Chapter 1

First, I would just like to say that I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They are all the magnificent creations of Stephanie Meyer and her vivid imagination. Happy Reading!

1. Mirror Image

I paused, frozen, afraid, my hand on the doorknob. In the soft porch-light, the diamond ring upon my third finger glimmered brilliantly. His familiar hand reached out to take mine, its firm, cool grasp encouraging and comforting. At his touch, my eyes lowered to focus on our intertwined fingers before slowly tracing their way up to his face. There, Edward gazed down at me; his rich topaz eyes were patient and warm. My breath caught and although I had looked into that beautiful face countless times, warmth flooded my cheeks. My eyes quickly averted again to the diamonds upon my finger—now mere rhinestones beside him—before gaining the courage to meet his again. Edward flashed that crooked grin I loved so much and raised our joined grasps to gently press his lips upon my hand. With that, I breathed deeply—partly to regain any sort of mental clarity, partly to find courage—and turned the doorknob.

For a time, we remained in silence. Together, Edward and I stood—still hand-in-hand—in front of the living room couch. Seated upon the squishy piece of furniture, Charlie stared blankly, mouth open, from me to Edward and back again. I could have kicked myself. For weeks now I had carefully pondered and planned how I would break the news of Edward and my engagement to Charlie. I had decided on discussing the matter with him in a mature, calm manner. In all my nervousness, however, I simply ended up hysterically screaming at him, "We're getting married!" Even Edward had started slightly in surprise. Right after the words escaped—or _exploded_ rather—from my lips, I instantly wished that I could somehow take them back, rewind, or at least just melt into the floor. No, instead I was now trapped in this maddening silence. Every muscle in my body braced itself for the fury to come, my eyes nervously glancing toward the coat rack, Charlie's gun hanging in its holster. Why hadn't Edward and I just worn red blindfolds on the way in? Standing before a firing squad would be better than this! Then suddenly a loud bellow shattered the stillness; I flinched, instinctively turning my face to the side and clenching my eyes shut. It was then I realized that the frightening sound had not been Charlie's chastisements but rather his thunderous laughter. Curiosity forced one of my eyes open. It was official…I had finally driven Charlie mad. For a while we watched his reverie, his face turning pinker with each guffaw. Maybe it was the fact that Edward and I never joined in on the laughter or perhaps the light had suddenly reflected off the very real engagement band upon my ring finger. For one reason or another, however, Charlie's jovial bellows slowly trailed away, his eyes widening with realization. In an instant, his once soft pink flush turned into a violent crimson; the vein on his forehead began to bulge. Lifting himself off the couch he began to advance towards us, his index finger brandished in the air.

"You can't be serious young lady! Y-you-you're not allowed to be serious! At least not like this you're not! No, not inmy house. This is ridiculous Bella, i-it's foolish, It's…"

Edward had shifted to reposition himself a foot or so behind me, his back against the living room wall. With each one of Charlie's reprimands I had taken a step back until I finally found the refuge of Edward's arms. Instead of wrapping them around me protectively as he usually did, however, Edward looped his arms under mine and encircled them around my waist. My hands immediately drifted to cover his. Everything was okay…I could endure anything now. The fury I had expected never ensued however. I watched in disbelief as Charlie's eyes affixed on something just above Edward's right shoulder before drifting down to focus again on us. His countenance relaxed, the crimson slowly fading away until his skin was a less threatening shade of rose. Charlie let out a gentle sigh.

"You really love each other don't you?" he murmured quietly, almost to himself.

For a moment I paused, wondering how I could somehow express undying, everlasting adoration into words that would not cause a father of an eighteen-year-old to have an aneurism. Failing at this task, I decided to merely nod solemnly and felt Edward's cheek brush lightly against my hair as he did the same. Charlie placed his hands on his hips, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared down at the wood grain.

"Let me make one thing clear." He declared, raising his eyes to look sternly into Edward's. "You hurt my baby, you in anyway break her heart…I'll break you."

I had to struggle to stifle a smile at the impossibility of that statement; I must have looked like I had a twitch as I forced the corners of my mouth to remain down. Edward did not even let off an ounce of amusement. He merely nodded again, his eyes sincere. Again, Charlie looked to the floor, hands on his hips, and let out a sigh.

"I still think you two are extremely young, and if I were you I would wait…" he started. "But…when should I get my suit ready for?"

"Edward?" I called softly over my shoulder in the darkness, my bed squeaking slightly beneath me. His cold arm wrapped lightly around my waist and pulled me closer as he lifted his cool lips to my ear.

"Yes?" he purred. For a moment, I lost my train of thought to the velvety hum of his voice.

"Huh?" I replied a little drowsily.

"Changed your mind have you?" he breathed, a devious note in voice as he kissed me lightly on the arch of my neck.

"W-what? N-No! Stop doing that!" I cried, attempting to scold him; the tone of voice that escaped my lips, however, was not even convincing to me.

"Stop what, love?" Edward whispered innocently as he continued to kiss his ways up to the hollow just behind my ear. _Self control! Self control! _I thought to myself in alarm. _Be like a rock, Bella. Rock solid…solid like his strong chest. No, stop thinking that! Self control woman!_

"You know _exactly _what you're doing Edward Cullen!" I exclaimed weakly, letting out a ragged, uneven breath. With that Edward chuckled behind me, pressing his lips to my ear once again.

"Just teasing," he whispered. _That's an understatement _I thought to myself.

"But I can dream can't I?" he finished before laying his head back down behind me on the pillow. "Now what did you want to ask me?" he inquired warmly.

"Didn't you think today was kind of easy. A little too easy maybe?" I managed finally after my thoughts finally stopped swirling around my head. Again, Edward let out a low chuckle.

"I feel kind of bad about that actually." He mused. At his reply, I quickly rolled over to face him. My eyes scanned his face, looking for some hint, some clue to what he meant.

"You can alter minds." I finally concluded breathlessly. I watched as Edward's expression became briefly confused before changing to complete amusement.

"More of your landmark theories I guess?" he teased, leaning in to kiss me lightly—and a little patronizingly—on the nose.

"Alter minds I cannot. I did take advantage of poor Charlie's most cherished yet hidden nostalgic memories." Edward began to explain. My ensuing silence signaled him to continue.

"Did you happen to notice the picture hanging just above us in the living room, Bella?"

Immediately I forced my memory to recall the living room wall and desperately searched through the hanging framed portraits. To my surprise, the photo came into my mind, as clear as if it were right in front of me. Charlie and Renee's wedding photo. I could picture the two of them, Charlie just behind my mother, his arms wrapped around her waist as she positioned her own hands over his. I recalled just how Edward and I had stood in the living room earlier today…a perfect mirror image. I gasped in realization.

"Edward! You're terrible!" I exclaimed. "Terrible…but brilliant." I finished.

Edward smiled warmly. "Anything for you. Now sleep, love. You're going to need your energy for tomorrow." He muttered persuasively. I finally gave into my heavy lids and nestled my head just under his chin, breathing in his sweet scent.

"Energy for what?" I mumbled into his shirt.

"We _are _meeting with Alice to plan the wedding." He reminded. I let out a groan of displeasure. Edward merely laughed lightly, and after kissing my hair began to hum my lullaby.


	2. Chapter 2

2. Hurricane Alice

"Bella. Bella, it's time to get up." his soothing voice called. At the sweet sound, my heart's tempo quickened, urging me to emerge into consciousness. I felt his cool fingertips trace over my cheekbone; I smiled, my eyes still shut, and leaned into his touch.

"We really do have to go, Bella." Edward declared, continuing to lightly stroke my face.

"Go where?" I inquired groggily.

"Wedding plans, remember. Alice is waiting for us."

I groaned in protest, rolling over to hide my face in my pillow. Soon after I felt the covers lift off of me.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Bella." Edward chastised, making sure to keep his voice velvet-smooth. I pretended to ignore him.

"Do I have to change you myself?" he exclaimed. Again, I blocked him out. For a while everything remained silent, still. _Had Edward left?_ Then, to my dismay a pair of hands lightly tugged at each side of my pajama pants, the elastic band moving a centimeter or so down from my waist. Instinctively I grabbed both sides to wrench them up again, rolled over, and sat up, mouth open in shock. After zeroing in on his face, I sent my open hand flying at his cheek. Unfortunately, Edward caught my wrist mid-swing. _Damn his superhuman reflexes! _Rather than looking hurt, he grinned at me smugly.

"Thought that would work. I'll be waiting in the car." He declared triumphantly. With that he lightly kissed me, released my wrist, and disappeared out my window.

Upon arriving at the Cullen's doorstep, I lifted a fist to knock on the door. A rather useless gesture. Before I could even move my hand, the door had swung open and Alice had launched herself at me, wrapping me in a warm embrace.

"Bella! How are you?" she cooed in her song-like voice. Without waiting for my reply, she grasped my hand and yanked me across the threshold.

"So much to do!" she chirped excitedly as I tripped in her wake. Within seconds I was thrown upon the Cullens' white, leather couch and Alice had again disappeared. Edward merely sauntered in a few moments later. Completely at ease, he took the seat beside me, wrapped one arm around my shoulders, placed the other behind his head, and reclined backward. He snorted, as if he were in on some secret joke. It was then that Alice re-entered the room…at least I thought it was Alice. Walking towards us was a towering pile of magazines, binders, phonebooks, and swaths of fabric—all somehow balanced on top of one another—a pair of petite legs wearing designer jeans gracefully transporting it across the hardwood.

"Alice…what _is _all this?" I asked in disbelief, staring up in awe—and a bit of fear—at the mountainous pile. I heard a sigh come from behind the stack. Then, I watched in horror as the jumble was released, allowed to tumble towards the floor. Before the pieces had a chance to make any sort of clamor, however, Alice had deftly caught and arranged them into their appropriate piles.

"For the wedding of course, Bella." Alice exclaimed, now placing her hands delicately on her hips.

"_All_ of this is for the wedding?" I cried disbelievingly, "Is it all really necessary?"

"But of course! We need to choose the color pallet, contact the caterer, order the wedding cake, _something _must be done about the bridesmaids' dresses—how many bridesmaids are you even going to have?—and of course the groomsmen too, you _need _tohelp me pick out my dress, and, oh!, we can't forget about the center pieces!" she rambled.

"Whoa whoa whoa slooow down! First thing's first. Where is this even going to take place?" I interrupted. For the first time in the past twenty minutes, Alice was at a loss for words.

"I hadn't thought of that yet actually." She replied puzzled, screwing up her mouth and placing a slender finger thoughtfully against her cheek.

"You must have seen it in your visions." I pressed.

"Well…no…I can't because _somebody_, I'm not saying who—Bella and Edward—have not made a decision yet." She replied with a hint of frustration. I peered over at Edward, but he merely shrugged. With that, I let my eyes wander, gazing around the room, at the house in which I already felt at home.

"Well…how about we have it here." I suggested. Instantly, Alice's lovely face lit up.

"Brilliant! I can see it now!" she squealed with delight. I smiled at her statement, knowing that she meant it in more ways than one.

"It will be a garden wedding." She declared, her eyes focused on a picture that no one else could see.

"But the sunlight…" I protested.

"Well, it's going to be at night silly." Alice teased in return.

"But what if it rains?"

For a moment Alice's face went blank, her eyes emotionless.

"Clear skies. Moderate temperature. And the stars will be clear in the sky! Oh how romantic." She sighed.

"But how do you kn…" I asked stupidly. Alice merely pointed to her temple and smiled.

"Right. Momentary lapse. Sorry." I apologized sheepishly.

"No big deal! Now on to the color scheme…what do you think about this one?" Without warning, Alice began thrusting swatches of fabric at me, holding them just beside my face. She tilted her head to the side pensively.

"No, too drab…how about yellow! No no no, not right with your skin tone…how about red! No…Ironic, but tacky all the same…Green—well I guess that would be a little overkill here in Forks; the poor bridesmaids would simply melt into the background…"

_Hardly possible…well at least in Alice and Rosalie's case, _I thought. Alice continued her color suggestions, furiously throwing the rejected pieces over her head. Peeking over her shoulder, I noticed Jasper nonchalantly stroll into the room only to be attacked by a barrage of color swatches. After noticing Alice's frenzied figure, he quickly turned on his heel and made a quick exit. _Lucky_ I thought flatly.

"…how about light pink I do love pink myself…no pink? Fine. If you're going to be little Miss Picky, what color would you prefer?"

Before I could even think, Edward was beside me.

"How about this." He suggested silkily. Looking to my side, I found his smooth hand holding a fabric swatch near my cheek. Immediately I felt myself flush—he had a funny way of making me do that; the fabric he held up matched the sweater he had loved so much on me. My memory brought me back to our first dinner together in Port Angeles just a couple years before.

"That's perfect." I breathed, raising my eyes to beam at him. He smiled warmly in return.

Alice began to tap her foot upon the hardwood.

"You two can have your little couple moments _after _the wedding, but right now there simply isn't enough time!" she interjected.

"Well, do you even need us here? It appears that you already have all of this planned out in your head." Edward said, smirking knowingly at his sister. At his suggestion, I instantly perked up and began to nod my head violently in agreement.

"Well…yes…in a way. But I was hoping that you two would lend a hand. After all this is _your_ special day and I _am _doing this all on my own out of the sheer love in my heart." Alice muttered letting her shoulders droop slightly and fixing a pair of glistening, pleading eyes on me. _Ugh, and not the puppy dog pout! Damn it! Stupid guilt trips! _I attempted to resist, but it was no use. I sighed in defeat.

"Fine Alice, I'll stay." I conceded.

"Yay!" Alice cheered, throwing her arms around my neck. "Now what about the bridesmaid's dresses?" she continued.

"Nothing too expensive," I pleaded. Alice's face dropped immediately.

"…define _expensive_."

"Alice…" I warned lightly.

"So…Versace is out of the question?" she asked carefully.

"Absolutely out of the question! I might not know many designers but I for sure know that one!"

At that Alice's delicate mouth drooped into an unmistakable frown. Before long, however, an idea seemed to flash in her mind and a wry smile illuminated her face.

"You know what, you guys were right. I do have this under control. I don't think I'll be needing your help after all." She suggested, pulling me to my feet, and beginning to shove us towards the door.

"Alice…" I warned in distrust.

"After all, I only really needed help choosing the color. And now that you picked the location I'm set really. You two should go spend more time together as a couple, you know, before the big day. Practice your vows or something like that. Okay bye!" she babbled, finally shoving us onto the doorstep and shutting the door swiftly behind her. I reached for the doorknob. Locked.

"Alice! I know what you're trying to do Alice. Just-just don't go overboard!" I cried, pounding my fist on the door. I knew it was futile though. Hurricane Alice was unleashed and there was no stopping it. Edward and I locked gazes; for a while we stood in silence, straight-faced. After the reality of all that just happened sank in, however, the two of us burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Then, once regaining some degree of composure, Edward snaked his arms around my waist and stared deeply into my eyes.

"Now, since you were so well behaved…what would _you_ like to do for the rest of the day?" I grinned sheepishly…I knew exactly where I wanted to go.


End file.
